Bad MCAT practice scores - confidence is gone

[Aceventura74]

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I'm set for the September 10 mcat...my scores started out great, in the 34 range on a few MCAT exams, but the last MCAT (AAMC 9) I took was a solid 28 and ever since all my practice passages have been really awful scores (usually getting half the BS questions or less correcT). IDK how to fix this problem, but all my moral and confidence is wiped away and the test is coming up - any advice? I'm sure this must have happened to at least one person on this forum lol...

Thanks & good luck on the MCAT for anyone taking it soon 😀

 

[Doctoblast]

Are you getting burned out? When I studied, I was getting consistent scores on practice tests till about a week before my real exam. I took aamc 10 and did really bad. Took two days off and worked on my weaknesses a bit and scored 3 points higher on my real mcat than on my best practice test. And even after the real thing I thought I bombed it. Trust me, I felt very demoralized, but just relax a little and regroup. Easier said than done. You can do it!

 

[BrothaX]

Yeah it really sounds like you are burnt out

always remember.. if you got a 34 before, you can pull it off on test day. Just follow @wsu11's advice

 

[PhysicsFailure]

Definitely sounds like burnout! Take a day or two off to repair your brain! I'm sure you'll rock the socks off the exam! Good luck! 🙂

 

[Medstart108]

I'm set for the September 10 mcat...my scores started out great, in the 34 range on a few MCAT exams, but the last MCAT (AAMC 9) I took was a solid 28 and ever since all my practice passages have been really awful scores (usually getting half the BS questions or less correcT). IDK how to fix this problem, but all my moral and confidence is wiped away and the test is coming up - any advice? I'm sure this must have happened to at least one person on this forum lol...

Thanks & good luck on the MCAT for anyone taking it soon 😀

Are you doing something differently like maybe thinking some questions over too hard? Sometimes, the nerves can cause you to overthink.

You don't need confidence to do well on the MCAT. You just need to improve, if it is burnout maybe you can get back to 34 on test day but I sure as hell wouldn't take that chance. I would really look at my thought process when answering questions and looking back at the questions I got wrong to analyze why my score dipped. Generally its your later performances that dictate the score you get on the MCAT.

 

[Aceventura74]

My biggest issue is the BS section right now. I found that on older exams, AAMC 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, I was able to pull off a 12 or guaranteed 10+. I'm suddenly seeing, in AAMC 9 + the self assessment, a new element of logic/analysis of the material presented. In prior exams, I found the questions to be less passage based/less analytical, you'd just need to know, for example, aldosterone raises BP, but not really in relation to anything else in the passage/new material presented in the answer choice itself.

Anyone else feel like modern MCAT BS section is very logic/deductive intense? Thanks for all the moral support...hoping I could bounce back. burnout seems very plausible ('ve been doing 2 mcats/week and the other 5 days were basically a full MCAT wrt to number of passages and material, just not consecutive!

 

[deleted439911]

Do some TPRH or TBR BS passages to try out. They should have a lot of the question types you're weak on. I'm guessing your content is very good already but you are just struggling on the new types of questions.

 

[Aceventura74]

Do some TPRH or TBR BS passages to try out. They should have a lot of the question types you're weak on. I'm guessing your content is very good already but you are just struggling on the new types of questions.

with the MCAT two weeks away from today I wanted to stick with AAMC material only...I'm doing the self-assessments right now.

 

[Aceventura74]

Anyone got any cures for burnout? All I know is that this week
1) I returned back to college (after summer break) so I was busy moving in/fixing my schedule (thanks for randomly de-registering me from classes...)
2) Getting used to doing more than MCAT from 9-9 at night (Got classes to go to...darn clicker attendance!!!)
3) I've done about 40 BS passage based questions Mon, Tues, Weds, Thurs and am suddenly averaging 10/40 CORRECT (meaning 30 are wrong).

A week ago I was getting back to back perfect scores and was set to nail the MCAT. Now I'm seriously starting to doubt my talent, people tell me its burnout and to just relax, but how am I supposed to really do that? Whats the best thing I could be doing right now?

 

[AmishExpressWay]

It's all in your head. Personally, I think the MCAT is 33% knowledge, 34% test taking ability, 33% mental state. It seems your content is fine, therefore the only thing to fix is your brain. Let's get started immediately.

First, take 2-3 days off. No MCAT stuff, no worrying about MCAT, nothing of the sort. Focus on getting other little things you've been putting off done, so that you can focus more on the MCAT when you get back. This will fix any potential burnout you might have, and give you a refreshed state of mind, which you desperately need.

During this short break, psyche yourself up with self-assurance one liners about how much you will kick the MCAT's ass, and what awesome things will happen by you doing so. Pump yourself up for when you are about to start studying again.

Also, during this time, watch these videos:

 

[Doctoblast]

This ^

 

[Aceventura74]

It's all in your head. Personally, I think the MCAT is 33% knowledge, 34% test taking ability, 33% mental state. It seems your content is fine, therefore the only thing to fix is your brain. Let's get started immediately.

First, take 2-3 days off. No MCAT stuff, no worrying about MCAT, nothing of the sort. Focus on getting other little things you've been putting off done, so that you can focus more on the MCAT when you get back. This will fix any potential burnout you might have, and give you a refreshed state of mind, which you desperately need.

During this short break, psyche yourself up with self-assurance one liners about how much you will kick the MCAT's ass, and what awesome things will happen by you doing so. Pump yourself up for when you are about to start studying again.

Also, during this time, watch these videos:

Possibly the best advice I've gotten on SDN - thank you so much. I totally agree, some of this stuff may seem odd, but it really is about the mindset. My approach to this bad week of passages was "You messed up yesterday, you can't afford to do bad today." And then seeing even worse scores ruined my mindset even more - this seems solid and I'm going to give it an honest attempt. Thanks!!!!!!!

 

[NextStepTutor_1]

I believe 2 mentalities are ignored or underemphasized while studying for the MCAT, and it warms my heart to see some of them brought up here. To put in my spin:

1. Have a short memory
Short memory? For the MCAT? You betcha!
Ever watch the Superbowl when a quarterback's driving his team in the middle of the 4th quarter? He's slowing chipping away at the defense and making some strides towards their goal line hoping to finalize the drive with a touchdown. His team's on the opponent's 20 yard line, a few passes at best until pay-day, when WHAM! He's intercepted and initially it's believed that all that work was for nothing. With time remaining in the quarter, how will this quarterback bounce back when he reaches the 20 yard line once again?

This is a crucial moment. You've put in all the hard work, you're on the 20 yard line, and now it's time to cash in. But in order to do so, you need to have a short memory. You can not mentally relive your mistakes while taking the test and expect to dominate it. You cannot afford to stretch your mind so thin during game time. So have a short memory. This means review your mistakes, learn from them, grow more confident knowing that you now know how to deal with whatever caused you to lose your footing in the first place, and then don't think about it! Trust yourself and your mind that the info you just reviewed will come back to you when needed. If the test is important to you then your brain will make the info a priority.

2. Treat yourself
After reading all the comments this seems to be the general advice here, and I agree. Take a break! You've got the time and you've put in the effort to reward yourself and your mind. But, please please please do not do what I see happen just way too often. Do not wake up, feel down, live the day under an emotional cloud and call it a rest day. That is what an actual wasted day looks like. But rest day/s are not wasted days at all when spent enjoying yourself! So take the time before the day starts, if you need to, to remind yourself that the rest day is a day for you and not the MCAT.

And finally as an end note: the way some questions are asked from AAMC 3 to 11 do change. There is a stronger emphasis on an analytical theme rather than fact-answered questions. Learn from this and practice. But first, treat yourself!

Cheers, and good luck!!

 

[Aceventura74]

I believe 2 mentalities are ignored or underemphasized while studying for the MCAT, and it warms my heart to see some of them brought up here. To put in my spin:

1. Have a short memory
Short memory? For the MCAT? You betcha!
Ever watch the Superbowl when a quarterback's driving his team in the middle of the 4th quarter? He's slowing chipping away at the defense and making some strides towards their goal line hoping to finalize the drive with a touchdown. His team's on the opponent's 20 yard line, a few passes at best until pay-day, when WHAM! He's intercepted and initially it's believed that all that work was for nothing. With time remaining in the quarter, how will this quarterback bounce back when he reaches the 20 yard line once again?

This is a crucial moment. You've put in all the hard work, you're on the 20 yard line, and now it's time to cash in. But in order to do so, you need to have a short memory. You can not mentally relive your mistakes while taking the test and expect to dominate it. You cannot afford to stretch your mind so thin during game time. So have a short memory. This means review your mistakes, learn from them, grow more confident knowing that you now know how to deal with whatever caused you to lose your footing in the first place, and then don't think about it! Trust yourself and your mind that the info you just reviewed will come back to you when needed. If the test is important to you then your brain will make the info a priority.

2. Treat yourself
After reading all the comments this seems to be the general advice here, and I agree. Take a break! You've got the time and you've put in the effort to reward yourself and your mind. But, please please please do not do what I see happen just way too often. Do not wake up, feel down, live the day under an emotional cloud and call it a rest day. That is what an actual wasted day looks like. But rest day/s are not wasted days at all when spent enjoying yourself! So take the time before the day starts, if you need to, to remind yourself that the rest day is a day for you and not the MCAT.

And finally as an end note: the way some questions are asked from AAMC 3 to 11 do change. There is a stronger emphasis on an analytical theme rather than fact-answered questions. Learn from this and practice. But first, treat yourself!

Cheers, and good luck!!

Thanks so much! I'm totally guilty of "taking a day off" ie, wallowing in my own pity hahahaha, I guess that's common amongst us pre-meds? Perhaps we should collaborate and find a cure for this one day when we're all Rock star doctors 😛!!!!!!

I definitely agree with that short-term memory mentality...its important to remember your accomplishments at this point isntead of harping on when I messed up. Learn and move on. And as far as treating myself goes...had a great few days off and I'm heading back into the full swing of studying, getting ready to destroy my next few practice FLs and then the real thing!!!! Good luck to all september 10 MCATers!!!!

 

[Richard Baddock]

Thanks for posting this friend. I just had a really bad practice test and I have felt very similar to you. My test is on 9/18. It might be a good time to take a day off for both of us. Best of luck and take care!

 

[Aceventura74]

Thanks for posting this friend. I just had a really bad practice test and I have felt very similar to you. My test is on 9/18. It might be a good time to take a day off for both of us. Best of luck and take care!

Tbh, I was really down about my lack luster performance on the last few BS passages this week, but after recovering, my passages yesterday never felt better, and I aced them like I normally do - best of luck, I'm going on September 10th!!!

 

[DrDreams]

I am sort of in the same boat. I am taking it 9/18 and have only taken aamc 3 and aamc 4. I bombed AAMC 4 but i think its because I was having an off day (I was out of it). I don't know what the heck you are supposed to do to snap yourself out of an off day. I mean I know I didn't eat breakfast that day, I woke up late (I'm still sick) and I was upset. So when I took it and got through the physical sciences section, I had 36 minutes left. It was like I was taking the test but my mind wasn't there. Then after seeing my scored, I basically almost vomitted on my laptop in the library.

In addition, I tried some new methods that clearly aren't working out for me.
That was last Thursday, I have since then been reviewing content and tbh I am a bit scared to take another practice exam. I am afraid, what if I have another off day